Esmée Denters (born 28 September 1988) is a Dutch singer and

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

. Denters started promoting herself as a musician online in 2006, covering songs by artists including

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

and

Natasha Bedingfield Natasha Anne Bedingfield (born 26 November 1981) is a British and New Zealand singer, songwriter and record producer. She released her debut album, '' Unwritten'', in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R& ...

. Denters was signed by Timberlake as the first artist to his label Tennman Records. In May 2009, she released her debut studio album, '' Outta Here'', and toured the United States with Timberlake. After the label dropped her, Denters moved to London, where she competed in

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

's ''

The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing reality competition television series. Created by John de Mol and Roel van Velzen, it premiered on BBC One on 24 March 2012. Based on the original Dutch singing competition '' The Voice of Holland'', and ...

''. In 2017, Denters released her EP ''These Days'', followed by the EP ''Past, Present, Future'' in 2020.

Early life

Denters was born on 28 September 1988, in

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

. Denters lived in Westervoort next to Arnhem until she was fifteen, when her family moved to

Oosterbeek Oosterbeek is a village in the eastern part of Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Renkum in the province of Gelderland, about west of Arnhem. The oldest part of Oosterbeek is the Benedendorp (Lower Village), on the northern bank ...

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

. She graduated from high school in

in 2006 and subsequently attended the HAN University of Applied Sciences where she was working towards a

Bachelor of Social Work A bachelor is a man who is not and never has been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...

until she dropped out in her first year in February 2007 to join Tennman Records.

Career

2006–2008: Early career

On 25 August 2006, Denters made a YouTube channel. She posted several videos of herself singing covers of other pop stars' songs. Denters traveled to the U.S. to write songs and record in the studio. There were plans for a reality show around Denters in the United States, which followed up the release of her debut album. She also sang a song that was written by

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling gir ...

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final lineup comprised Beyoncé, Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams (singer), Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Hou ...

. She then flew to Sweden for a few days to write songs and record. In 2008, Denters started her professional career after attracting the attention of Dutch media scouts and American pop singer

. Timberlake went on to sign her as the first artist to his label Tennman Records. Timberlake served as an executive producer on her debut album, '' Outta Here''. She also appeared on TV shows like '' Oprah''.

2009–2010:''Outta Here'' and collaborations

In April 2009, Denters confirmed on Dutch radio station

Radio 538 Radio 538 () is a Dutch commercial radio station established in Hilversum, Netherlands, in 1992. It is the second-most listened to radio station in the Netherlands. The name “Radio 538” refers to the wavelength on which Radio Veronica broadc ...

that her debut album would be released in the Netherlands on 22 May 2009, also confirming that the album is a mix of Pop and R&B with both ballads, and uptempo tracks. Her debut single, also the title song of the album, was released in the Netherlands on 14 April 2009 and in the UK on 15 August. ''Outta Here'' reached number five in the Netherlands and charted in Belgium, where it reached number 3 for five weeks on the Flemish Region Albums Chart. The album was released in the UK on 11 January 2010 and features her 2008 charity duet with Timberlake, "Follow My Lead" as an additional bonus song. The second single, " Admit It", only reached 28 in the Netherlands and 56 in the UK. In autumn 2009, Denters went on tour with

Honor Society In the United States, an honor society is an organization that recognizes individuals who rank above a set standard in various domains such as academics, leadership, and other personal achievements, not all of which are based on ranking systems. ...

. The album's third single " Love Dealer" reached 12 and 68 in the Netherlands and UK respectively. Denters also worked on several collaborations during this time. She performed on tour with artists

Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Regarded as a leading figure of Contemporary R&B#2000s, 2000s R&B music, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, includi ...

Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican label Fonovisa where he released three Spanish albums ''Enrique Iglesias (album), Enrique ...

and

N-Dubz N-Dubz are an English hip-hop trio from Camden Town, London, England, consisting of cousins Dappy and Tulisa, and their friend Fazer. After winning a MOBO Award for Best Newcomer in 2007, N-Dubz briefly signed with Polydor Records before j ...

. She lent her vocals to the German band Stanfour who featured Denters on their single "Life Without You", released on 25 May 2010. The music video for the single was postponed due to the April 2010 Icelandic volcano eruption. On 1 May, Denters and Stanfour flew to New York to record the video for "Life Without You". The official release of "Life Without You" in Germany was 28 May. The video leaked on the internet on 24 May. In the UK, she also accepted a collaboration with British rapper

Chipmunk Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of subtribe Tamiina. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Chipmunks are classified as four genera: '' ...

on his hit " Until You Were Gone", which entered the top three on UK charts. She received an MTV Europe Music Award in 2009 and the

European Border Breakers Award The Music Moves Europe Award, also known as the MME Award, is an annual prize recognizing the success of ten emerging artists or groups who reached audiences outside their own countries with their first internationally released album in the pas ...

in 2010 for ''Outta Love''.

2011–2014: Dismissal from ''Tennman Records''

Denters started working on new songs for her second studio album in January 2011. She worked with British DJ and producer K-Gee and musician Ben Cullum on the album, which was to be titled ''Screaming Out Loud''. "City Lights" was the first single from the album. At the end of 2012, Dutch DJ and producer Erik Arbores and Denters collaborated for the new Dance4Life theme song called "dance4life (now dance)", released digitally on 23 November. They performed the song at the Dance4Life 2012 charity event in Ahoy, Rotterdam. Denters was dropped from Tennman Records that year. On 24 February 2014, Denters returned to the stage, performing new music at Showcase Live in London. She opened the show singing her first hit single "Outta Here" followed by three new original songs: "Cars and Airplanes", "If I Could I Would" and "Anything For The Money", along with a performance of

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. She is known for her unconventional style of pop music and introspective songwriting, and has been referred to ...

's " Royals",

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

's "

Hold On, We're Going Home "Hold On, We're Going Home" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake, featuring R&B duo Majid Jordan, released by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Republic Records and OVO Sound on August 7, 2013 as the third single from Drake's thi ...

", and

Avicii Tim Bergling (8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii, was a Swedish DJ, remixer, and record producer. At age 16, he began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first record deal. He rose ...

's " Wake Me Up". On 24 September 2014, Denters released her first independent single "If I Could I Would" on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

and

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

2015–present: ''The Voice UK'' and independent work

On 24 January 2015, Denters appeared on

's ''

'', selected to join

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he ...

's team for the next round. However, she was eliminated at the knockout stage. At the end of 2017, Denters worked with Shaun Reynolds and released a 5-song EP ''These Days'' on

and

. In January 2018, Denters mentioned on Instagram that the second part of the EP would be released in May 2018. On 25 May 2018, Denters sang the lead single "Feeling Good" live on the Dutch TV show ''M''. One month later Denters headlined her own live show at the

Melkweg Melkweg (Dutch for "Milky Way") is a music venue and cultural center on Lijnbaansgracht, near Leidseplein in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is housed in a former dairy and includes four music halls as well as a cinema, a restaurant and an exhibitio ...

in The Netherlands. Sylvia Aimee and MVTCHES were the opening acts. A second live show followed in March 2019 at The Borderline in London. In 2020, Denters released a 3-song EP titled ''Past, Present, Future''. The EP was created during the UK lockdown with Shaun Reynolds, who said they "managed to piece ttogether remotely from two opposite sides of the capital". The EP includes the tracks "Love Me The Same", "Ruins", and "Better Things", with each song depicting a different period of time in a romantic relationship.

Media

Appearances in the Dutch and international media.

YouTube

The uploaded YouTube videos from Esmee Denters can be found below. A video appears on the list if it is a song, it reached more than 100,000 views on YouTube, is not an official released single, not part of a TV show and cannot be found on an album.

Discography

Tours

2007 *

– FutureSex/LoveShow (opening act, Europe) 2009 *

– Greatest Hits tour (opening act, Europe) *

– Year of the Gentleman tour (opening act, Europe) *

– Fashionably Late tour (opening act, United States/Canada) * N-Dubz Christmas Party (opening act, UK) 2010 * Stanfour – Rise & Fall tour (special guest, Germany)

Awards

Notes and references

External links

*
Esmée Denters
Artist Discography
Esmée Denters
Esmée Denters {{DEFAULTSORT:Denters, Esmee 1988 births Living people 21st-century Dutch singers 21st-century Dutch women singers Dutch dance musicians Dutch singer-songwriters Dutch women singer-songwriters Dutch YouTubers English-language singers from the Netherlands MTV Europe Music Award winners Music YouTubers People from Arnhem YouTube vloggers